1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to the computerized management and control of databases regarding customer retail sales of goods and services. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to systems, computer program products, and associated methods to manage and control a loyalty rewards network allowing customers to apply or otherwise use loyalty rewards for payments made for goods or services.
2. Background
Loyalty programs or rewards have been used by merchants and other providers of goods and services, as well as by marketing personnel. Loyalty programs or rewards are the result of structured marketing efforts to reward purchases of goods or services from participating merchants or provider of goods and/or services. Those participating have typically been groups or chains of affiliates of merchants or service providers.
During the course of purchases in a loyalty reward program, data from groups or networks of purchasers is useful and valuable concerning purchasing behavior and trends can be aggregated in some form for analysis and evaluation. The group data assembly or network organizer typically receives certain general demographic and identification information from customers or customers willing to participate in the network at the time customers joins the network.
Membership or participation in the network by a customer is evidenced by what have generally been known as discount cards, club cards or rewards cards. The cards have certain identification and authentication data encoded therein, usually in barcode, magnetic stripe or other form that is easily scanned or read. In some cases, tokens such as key fobs or the like which contain comparable identification and authentication data may be used in place of cards. Data gathered from purchases made by participants is made available in connection with evaluating marketing trends and purchasing behavior.
Existing loyalty reward data has been gathered by various groups or chains of merchant outlets, and by the forms of payment (such as credit card, debit card, cash, or check). The ability to easily track purchasing behavior across multiple merchants separately and independently of the form of payment has been difficult, especially for more niche segments or purchasing types or groups that are not as likely to be able to participate in registered credit card programs.
Assembling data indicative of purchasing behavior has been a very cumbersome process. The assembling often-involved integration with multiple retailers; or assembling and relying on data from only one type of purchase; or was done on a retailer-by-retailer basis. This has made it difficult for a marketer to both aggregate participating locations as well as to create a large pool of users to furnish a reliable and representative database. This has been particularly challenging in connection with what are known in market analysis as “emerging groups”. In addition, so far as is known, the data models did not accommodate the ability to create a single consistent branded product that all participating customers could use.